Under Watch
by Di12381
Summary: Marguerite and Roxton remember their pasts while considering their future.


*-I don't own any of the characters except for, Dr. James Barleco, Jefferson Carter, Alice Kneely and Sir Richard Kneely, the rest, I'm just borrowing. They belong J&G, Newline, OTHG, etc.  
  
*- I've taken certain liberties with Roxton's life just for dramatic purposes.  
Under Watch  
  
Marguerite  
  
He watches me as a hunter observes his prey before he goes in for the kill. His eyes seem to burn holes into the back of my brain. The more I can't stand him, the more I want him. I've never wanted a man like I wanted John Roxton. He is walking contradiction. One minute, he is arrogant and stubborn, the next minute he is loving and gentle. I can't decide whether I want smack him or kiss him.  
  
When we first met in Challenger's study, he looked and sounded like every aristocrat I've ever met. Arrogant, self serving, thinking that just because he had the title of lord next to his name, everyone would drop to their knees in adulation. I showed him otherwise. If he thought I was one of those society girls who was looking for a husband, he was dead wrong. I learned a long time ago that men were good for two things and only two things.  
  
My childhood was far from idyllic. I spent my childhood in convent schools. The other girls would talk about me behind my back and when they were nice to me, it was only because I had money. The nuns were strict but kind, looking back; they took probably pity on me, a young girl with money but no one to love. During school breaks, they would allow me to stay. The library was my favorite place, I would spend hours reading. When I reached my teen years and we were required to go to balls, I hated them. Getting stuff and corseted and painted to let myself be treated as a piece of meat was not my idea of a evening out.  
  
Oh sure, I had my share of men. I didn't marry them all, though the thought of marriage did come up at certain points in my life. Both of my marriages ended up disastrous. The only good thing that came out of my marriages was the money I was paid to keep quiet. They thought I was young and naïve, easily molded to fit their image of the perfect wife. My first husband, Dr. James Barleco, was a half Italian, half Scottish Doctor from Edinburgh.  
  
We met when I was traveling on business. He was surprised that the person behind the business transaction was a woman, a young woman at that. We married soon after; a part of me hoped that it would last. It didn't. When he found out that I wasn't as naïve and innocent, he tried to beat me down. When I found out the reason he married me because of rumors of off hours dalliances with his assistant, Dennis, a pretty young wife seemed to be just the thing to squash the rumors. The divorce was simple enough, he gave me enough money and I pretended not to know about what he did after the office closed.  
  
I met my second husband during the war. Jefferson Carter was an American was working for the British government to help decode the messages the Germans were sending to their submarines. My supervisor seemed eager for us to work together; he said that with my skills and Mr. Carter's background, we would be able to save hundreds of lives. Our working relationship soon become much more than working relationship and like my first marriage, I married much too fast. I guess underneath it all, I was looking for a replacement for the family I never had as a child.  
  
The marriage was good at first, Jefferson, or Jeff as I called him, seemed to be a good husband. One day, Jeff left the financial papers open and I noticed some figures missing. I was suspicious, but I didn't say anything. Then Jeff got letters, which he quickly confiscated. I kept my suspicions to myself. As the weeks went on, my suspicions mounted and still I kept quiet. One day I was shopping and I went to pay. The woman behind the register told me that there wasn't enough money in the account. That's when I found out, he was married, and his wife was in Chicago with their two year old daughter and six month old son, that's where the money was going. I annulled the marriage and threatened to tell our supervisor about Jeff's little secret. The money he gave me added nicely to my bank account.  
  
After the war, Xan approached me. He heard about my experience and needed me to do a job. I did the job and he paid me well. As I got more involved and did more jobs, the money kept rolling in. At one point I realized that I was over my head, but it was too late. Xan knew too much, I had to stay.  
  
He's watching me again. What power does he have over me? I have to concentrate. I'm here on a mission, though once it's over, giving in wouldn't be a bad idea, and he is sort of handsome. I'm here to do a job, not to indulge in some girlish romantic fantasy. Xan promised me my birth certificate if I found the Ouraboris. I don't completely trust Xan, however, I spent every penny of my money, not to mention other's money to fund this expedition, and there is no turning back now. We've failed to get off the plateau too many times; I figure it'll give me more time to find the Ouraboris. I just need to keep my mind on what's important, not on John Roxton.  
  
Roxton  
  
She is everything I never wanted in a woman. Selfish, self-serving, always looking out for number one. And yet, I sense that it's a façade, there is a completely different woman inside of her. Dam, she is beautiful. I've woken up in a cold sweat too many times to count. She's only allowed small glimpses of the real Marguerite; I've come to treasure them as if they were one of her diamonds.  
  
Marguerite reminds me of my mother. My father died when Will and I were boys, forcing our mother to raise us alone. She had many suitors, but she turned them all away. Mother changed; she became cold and formal, leaving us to the servants to raise and love.  
  
Father loved to travel, when Will and I were young, he would thrill us with his stories of where he had been and what he'd seen. When I turned seventeen, I had the opportunity to travel to Kenya and I took the chance. Will stayed behind to take care of Mother and other business. Being in Kenya, I felt as if Father was with me. The sights, the sounds, nature at her best, I was transformed.  
  
I spent two and a half years traveling all over Africa and Asia, an experience I will never forget. I started as a boy and returned a man. I returned to London two months before Will's wedding. Mother, Will and Will's fiancée, Alice Kneely, daughter of Sir Richard Kneely met me at the dock. Alice was 17, a recent graduate of Miss Ermine's School For Young Ladies. Mother was very happy as was her parents. The wedding was going as planned until Alice caught Pneumonia and had to be hospitalized.  
  
Watching my brother, my heart broke. I tried to help him, but he was inconsolable. Will and Alice agreed to push the wedding back, after much encouragement. I heard about Pierson Rice, a famous hunter who was planning an expedition to the Congo. I tried to convince him to come with me; it was only a month, the time the doctor said Alice would need to heal. It would be good for him; I tried to convince him, away from London and away from the hospital, but he refused. Finally, I went to Alice, who gave Will her blessing.  
  
The trip seemed to help. He looked and sounded renewed. I knew he missed Alice, but it was as if the old Will was back. Everything was going well. Alice wrote that she was feeling better and the doctor said she could return home. Then the ape attacked and I shot my brother. I'll never forget his last words "Tell Mother and Alice I love them".  
  
I had the task of informing Mother, Alice and her parents, that there would be no wedding, but a funeral and I was the reason why there was a funeral. Mother relapsed into her depression; she refused to eat and sleep, and never said one word to me after that. Alice and her parents broke off all contact with us; I knew she blamed me, even though the words were never said. I found out a year later that Alice had married, and then Mother died of a stroke.  
  
I was alone, except for a title and a fortune to back it up. I could have married, despite my reputation, many women were eager to take the title of Lady Roxton. Yet I knew that I couldn't whole-heartedly encourage any of them. Then Marguerite walked into the Zoological Society and offered to pay for the expedition. When she almost shot me in Challenger's study, I knew this was one woman who would not be easy, but who says Lord John Richard Roxton ever took the easy route?  
  
She is retreating into her room again. It seems that she is always running from something or someone. When she walked into Challenger's study, she took my breath away. Dark curls swept off her face, the dark purple dress she wore seemed to scream at me to hold on and never let go. I knew when she almost shot me that this was no ordinary society woman. Whatever she had gone through in her life had made her tough and invulnerable, yet I knew that it was a mask. Marguerite Krux is a challenge and I never back down from a challenge, whether it's an animal in the jungle or a beautiful woman with gray-green eyes and delectable curves who has already left an indelible mark in my mind. 


End file.
